REDDSTAR Public Event in Berlin

‘Diabetes – can stem cells help?’ is a free, public event that will be held on Monday, 4 November 2013 from 19:00- 20:30 at The Ruin located within the Berlin Museum of Medical History, Charité. Diabetes and stem cell researchers from around Europe will assemble for a REDDSTAR plenary meeting hosted by Charité in Berlin on November 5 and 6th. In conjunction with the scientific meeting, the public event will take place. REDDSTAR, Repair of Diabetic Damage by Stromal Cell Administration involves ten partners from academia, industry and hospitals and runs for three years with funding from the European Commission.

Speakers include Professor Doctor Hans- Dieter Volk, Director of the Berlin Brandenburg Center for Regenerative Therapy (BCRT), Professor Doctor Carsten Tschoepe of Charité and Mrs Michaela Berger, Board member for DiabetesDE. The event will be moderated by Katharina Simons of the EU project CommHERE (www.CommHERE.eu).

Fifty million patients with diabetes mellitus in the EU are using prescription drugs to control their blood glucose levels. Poor control of blood glucose levels leads to a number of diabetic complications, including: nephropathy, retinopathy, cardiomyopathy, neuropathy, impaired bone repair and wound ulceration. At present, there are few therapeutic options available to control initiation and progression of diabetic complications and they continue to present challenging disease management issues for clinicians. What is research doing to address this challenge?